Western Railroad Discussion > Bridge quickly replaced on a BNSF transcon main at Olathe, KS

When I learned about a 16-hour work window for a bridge replacement project on Main Two on the BNSF transcon in Olathe, Kan., yesterday, I decided to head that way and check things out.

When I arrived close to the work site shortly before 2 p.m., just south of a College Boulevard street bridge that spans the rail line, I found the old bridge span had already been removed and work was starting on the setting of the new bridge. I watched as a cap was set on new piers on the south end (the track runs compass north-south at this location).

The workers were carrying out their project during the first cold snap of the season. There was a light mist falling and the temperature was only in the upper 40s. I stuck around only about 20 minutes and heavy rain fell on me a few miles away about 15 minutes later.

But from what I've been told, the project work continued into the night. Portable floodlights were set up to illuminate the entire scene.

A new bridge on Main One at the same location was installed several months ago.

This territory is on the Emporia Subdivision. The Mill Creek bridge location is about 3-1/2 to 4 miles north of downtown Olathe.

I have no details on exactly how many work days have been devoted to the Main Two bridge project or exactly when the first work began. I'd also be interested in knowing exactly how long the new bridge is.

The BNSF continued to run trains on Main One as the bridge replacement work was taking place on Main Two, although most were being flagged past the site after short pauses. These two pictures show an eastbound intermodal that happened past at 1:56 p.m. Tuesday.

Thanks for sharing these. Tuesday seems to be the day of choice for BNSF to do these types of projects that shut down a main track on the Transcon, which makes sense since that is typically the lightest traffic day of the week.

I returned to the bridge project area about 20 hours later today (Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017). Only activity observed were three excavator machines completing some right of way clean-up work. Looked like the machine operators were about ready to go home as they parked their machines side by side by the large crane that had also been put to rest hours earlier.

It's always interesting to see how fast these projects move along with today's prefab materials and large construction equipment.

Shutting down one main on this portion of the Emporia Sub. does not pose a huge bottleneck for the BNSF. The railroad has the option of also using the single main Topeka Sub. for reroutes between Holliday and Emporia. I understand the Topeka Sub. saw more action than usual on Tuesday.

I assume this ROW replacement was fully funded by BNSF No grants or government subsidies involved. I shudder to think what this project cost--especially--since they have done both bridges. Our railroads spend millions of dollars on ROW maintenance from their own resources. Great job!!!!

TomPlatten Wrote:
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> I assume this ROW replacement was fully funded by
> BNSF No grants or government subsidies involved. I
> shudder to think what this project
> cost--especially--since they have done both
> bridges. Our railroads spend millions of dollars
> on ROW maintenance from their own resources. Great
> job!!!!

The flip side is that truck competition, who use government-provided highways, must suffer thru the traffic jams, while trains go as fast as they can on the ROW the railroads paid for. Of course, the last-mile delivery by trucks on congested highways affects railroad's intermodal business.

But the flip-flip side is that truckers routinely exceed speed limits on highways by 10, 15 even 20 mph, and even when cops use radar on them, most are not punished for their speed as long as its within a margin of error and/or the flow of traffic. Train engineers, on the other hand, can be fired for 3 mph over speed limits, and have their performance checked regularly by remote analysis. If truckers were held to the same level of rules compliance that train personnel are, I suspect there wouldn't be nearly as many long distance truckers as there are and many of them could not/would not hold their licenses for long.

Driving along any interstate in the western US will more than adequately confirm this...

Railfool03 Wrote:
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> But the flip-flip side is that truckers routinely
> exceed speed limits on highways by 10, 15 even 20
> mph, and even when cops use radar on them, most
> are not punished for their speed as long as its
> within a margin of error and/or the flow of
> traffic. Train engineers, on the other hand, can
> be fired for 3 mph over speed limits, and have
> their performance checked regularly by remote
> analysis. If truckers were held to the same level
> of rules compliance that train personnel are, I
> suspect there wouldn't be nearly as many long
> distance truckers as there are and many of them
> could not/would not hold their licenses for long.
>
> Driving along any interstate in the western US
> will more than adequately confirm this...

In several of the photos, did anyone notice the special custom "transporter" (at the right) that was used to bring the crane to the site on rail? The rig is self-propelled but can also be towed by a semi truck tractor on highways. This is the first time I have ever seen such a carrier. It was required on this project because of hilly terrain and a somewhat remote location.

Here is a photo of the special rail/highway carrier that was used to haul the large construction crane and some materials to the bridge construction site. The picture was taken by a railfan who wishes to remain anonymous.

Am glad that many think that trucks do nothing to pay there way using roads and all run way above the speed limit. Both are wrong, they pay very heavy taxes on fuel to support them for one. Also if you watch trucks, there is a difference between many of them. Many of the trucking companies have GPS tracking on them and they adhere to posted speed limits. One easy way to tell is watch there brake lights come on keeping them at posted limits.
There are some that think they own the road but less than the idiots who drive cars. I watch cars cut off trucks, get in front of them and then slam on the brakes to make a turn causing the truck to smoke his tires.
I and my other half both hold CDLs by the way she drove in Seattle traffic and never put a scratch on anything in thirty years.

BAB Wrote:
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> Am glad that many think that trucks do nothing to
> pay there way using roads and all run way above
> the speed limit. Both are wrong, they pay very
> heavy taxes on fuel to support them for one. Also
> if you watch trucks, there is a difference between
> many of them. Many of the trucking companies have
> GPS tracking on them and they adhere to posted
> speed limits. One easy way to tell is watch there
> brake lights come on keeping them at posted
> limits.
> There are some that think they own the road but
> less than the idiots who drive cars. I watch cars
> cut off trucks, get in front of them and then slam
> on the brakes to make a turn causing the truck to
> smoke his tires.
> I and my other half both hold CDLs by the way
> she drove in Seattle traffic and never put a
> scratch on anything in thirty years.

A necessary and good post. Today, many trucks have a 65mph governor on them
for fuel conservation purposes. Still there are many violating that and
the posted limit as I rediscovered last night traveling to Waterloo, IA.
Plus several idiots in cars doing what's described above.
Further, while the taxes and fees truckers pay may seem heavy, they only
cover about 40 per cent of the costs they cause.

Anyway, all the arguments are valid, just incomplete. My two cents worth.